The art is replete with dispensing structures and devices for dispensing goods and beverages in canned containers. Many of these structures and devices are particularly adapted to dispense the goods or beverage containers one-at-a-time such that when one container is removed from the dispensing apparatus by an individual, another container is automatically dispensed within the apparatus for removal therefrom. Most of these devices are particularly suited not only to dispense the canned goods or beverages, but also to display them for the promotion of sales. As such, they are primarily used in public places such as convenience stores, commercial building lunch rooms, self-service retail stores, subway platforms, etc. A few of such devices are suited for the personal dispensing of containers, specifically of beverage containers, as will be described herein. In almost all of these devices the individual goods or beverages containers must first be manually loaded into the devices one-by one by hand. Only after the individual containers have been hand loaded into the dispensing structure will the one-at-a-time dispensing of the containers begin. Accordingly, the user is actually forced to go through a procedure wherein the goods or beverage containers are first manually removed from the package in which a plurality of the containers are stored and sold, and then manually inserted into the apparatus from which the containers are to be individually dispensed. Having to perform both procedures is not only time consuming but is also inconvenient. Furthermore, in many of these devices loading the goods containers into the apparatus poses the risk of damaging the containers, or requires inconvenient and potentially injurious action on the part of the individual performing the loading to prevent such damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,999,021 to Marsh discloses an ephemeral multi-channel display and dispensing apparatus primarily to be used in merchandising several types of contained products simultaneously. The apparatus is folded and assembled from a number of blanks of packaging material, such as corrugated cardboard. Marsh discusses the problem of having to single load individual containers into the apparatus, and solves the problem by utilizing a specialized loading cartridge containing a plurality of beverage containers which can be inserted into an individual dispensing channel of the apparatus. While Marsh's device is suited for its intended purpose, it requires individual containers to be stored in a non-standard packaging cartridge specifically designed and adapted for use with the devices. If the specialized cartridge is not used, the individual containers, once again, have to be manually loaded one-a-time into each dispensing channel in an inconvenient manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,658,724 to Kendall also discloses a device for dispensing and displaying one or more individual containers in self-service stores. The Kendall device focuses primarily on dispensing the containers in a longitudinal orientation wherein the containers are stacked end to end rather than side by side in order to minimize potential injury to an individual removing a dispensed individual container from the device. While the Kendall devices seems well suited to its particular objectives, it also requires the containers to be dispensed by the device to be first individually manually loaded therein. It would also seem that the risk of damaging the individual containers during loading is reduced but not eliminated, in the Kendall device, since the containers are dropped into the device from the top of a track and slide down the track into the dispensing portion of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,647 to Spurrier is interesting in that the device is suited for personal use rather than public use. The device disclosed in Spurrier is a cooler chest which resembles a conventional portable cooler but contains additional structure including a can dispenser assembly so that individual containers loaded into a container body within the cooler chest may be individually dispensed from a side of the chest through the can dispenser assembly. Thus, the lid of the cooler may remain closed during dispensing to conserve the cool air within the cooler. While well suited for its particular purpose, the Spurrier device is of limited utility to an individual user in that the containers must be stored inside the cooler chest for the device to be used. Thus, the device cannot be used where the bulky chest will not conveniently fit, such as in a refrigerator. Again, the individual containers must be first be individually loaded from the packaging within which they are sold into the container body inside the cooler chest.
Other patents found in a search for subject matter related to the present invention are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,104 to De Domenico, et al.,
U.S. Pat. No. 1,694,897 to Washburn,
U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,604 to Davies,
U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,246 to Messenger,
U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,419 to Zinkgraf, et al.
In view of the above, it is apparent that while some devices have been developed to dispense individual containers for single container dispensing, a need exists for a device which is easy to manufacture and convenient to use which does not require tedious loading of the containers, particularly beverage containers, from the package within which they are sold into the apparatus. Such a device, if capable of cooperating with the standardized packaging within which a plurality of individual containers are almost universally stored and sold, would enable one to beneficially utilize the pre-loading of the containers into the standardized packaging. Such a device would thus alleviate the need to individually remove the containers from their packages and re-load them into the dispensing device. Such a device would require less material in its construction because it would not require a storage area for the containers within the device itself. Such a system would also beneficially provide for single container dispensing without worry of injury to the hand of the person removing the individual container from the dispenser or damage to the individual containers during loading of the containers into the device. Such a device would enable private individuals, particularly, to have a convenient means to individually dispense goods or beverage containers directly from the package in which they were sold to the individual. As such, the device would further serve as an excellent promotional item for beverage manufacturers and distributors to give or sell to both retail and wholesale customers to use in cooperation with the standardized 12-pack and 24-pack packaging used by the manufactures within which the individual containers are sold and stored.